1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a data sharing method and system, and more particularly to a multimedia data sharing system and method for a MOST network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the future, mobile communication technology will enable a car to be a mobile office or an entertainment theater, integrating wireless communication equipment, multimedia networks and customized software and hardware platforms to provide digital entertainment. Mobile communication technology for cars at least comprises telematics, real-time multimedia entertainment on demand, and plug-and-play for portable devices.
Telematics services, such as remote diagnostics, connect a car to a back end server to receive and transmit information for accessing network resources such as home networks, electronic toll collection (ETC), traffic navigation, and so forth. Meanwhile, real-time multimedia entertainment on demand services, enable a passenger to request real-time multimedia services and retrieve real-time multimedia entertainment services such as video and audio and navigation information. As for plug and play services for portable devices, a portable device (such as an MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MP3) player, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and the like) is allowed to connect to an in-car device for operation. The described telematics services are provided by using mobile wide bandwidth and wireless communication technology such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST), and information and communication system integration technology.
Mobile wide bandwidth and wireless communication technology allows for communication to occur between a car and an outside environment, wherein a car is connected to a back end server to receive and transmit information for accessing network resources such as home networks, electronic toll collection (ETC), traffic navigation, and so forth.
The MOST network, enables passengers, independently or for sharing, to request real-time multimedia services and retrieve real-time multimedia entertainment services such as video and audio and navigation information. In one example, the video and audio host can transmit different audio and video files to different display devices, so that each display device can simultaneously display different program content.
Information and communication system integration technology, integrates multiple communication interfaces, such as Control Area Network (CAN), Universal Serial Bus (USB), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 1394, Ethernet, and so forth, by interface protocol conversion to an automotive gateway. Connection of various portable devices is enabled and a sharing system for various plug-and play devices is provided to in-car users.
As described, the telematics services provide communication between a car and an external environment, comprising, for example, real-time navigation and traffic alarms for driver convenience and security and multimedia video and audio entertainment and mobile broadband network access for passenger usage and sharing. Although the MOST network, is the most widely applied high speed multimedia network transmission protocol for telematics services, a first generation MOST network does not provide multimedia video transmission as a standard feature.
Thus, the invention provides a multimedia data sharing system and method for a MOST network. The MOST network, integrates multiple communication interfaces to enable connection of various portable devices and provide a sharing system for various plug-and play devices.